Ribbons won't save you now
by Spiitex
Summary: I’m Sebastian, a Coordinator. After crossing two regions to escape my controlling and slightly sinister parents I’m in Sinnoh, under a new name and appearance. Can I ever lead a normal life?. FULL summary inside. Please read and maybe review?


**Summary: **_**I'm Sebastian, a training Coordinator. After crossing two regions to escape my controlling and slightly sinister parents I'm in Sinnoh, under a new name and appearance. While trying to avoid detection from my parents, training for Contest, having plenty of encounters with that pig-head Ashley and stopping Team Nova maybe I can lead a normal life?. **_

**Chapter One: An unfriendly greeting**

"Let's whirl, Vince!" I called with a bright smile, lighting up my grey orbs as I tossed the blue and white Ultra Ball into the air. As soon as the sphere was back in my palm I indeed did whirl on the spot with my right arm outstretched, performing a sort of ballerina spin, as did my Octillery whom I had just released onto the grass. After three well timed spins, we stopped and stood regally, as practiced plenty of times before.

"Let's get this show off to a start, use Bullet Seed" I called dramatically with a fling of my arm. Normally I would feel ridiculously stupid, but if it had anything to do with a Contest I was oblivious. I lived for Contests.

Vince understood at once and raised his vibrant red head to the sky. With a series of groans from him, each punctuated with the ejaculation of a large seed from its long tube like mouth, he completed the attack, so that five large seeds were reaching the peak of their flight. "And now, Flamethrower!" I called to him with another arm gesture.

This time a thick stream of crimson flames burst forth from Vince's snout - where he created the flames in a body that was almost identical to an octopuses' was unknown to me - which rose and met the falling seeds. Within a matter of seconds a thick rain of ash was falling down on Vince.

"A Psybeam and Bubblebeam combo to finish it off Vince!" I shouted even louder as the act came to an end. A storm of large bubbles flew up towards the sky, looking even brighter in the flecks of ash that fell slowly around them. The serenity of the scene was smashed as multicoloured waves of psychic energy pulsated from Vince's snout, colliding and popping the bubbles resulting in a second rain, this time beautiful colours of violet and blue which shone in the morning sun spectacularly. As one, me and Vince bowed to an imaginary audience in perfect timing before plopping down in the grass of Sandgem Town's Pokémon Centre garden.

"Were getting better Vince, especially on the strength of Psybeam. Well done" I said as I laid onto my back and squinted over at Vince, who was now perched on a rock, his tentacles suctioned onto the surface. He gave back what could be considered a smile, considering his mouth was a long hooter type snout. "Our first Sinnoh Contest should be a breeze" I stated, feeling a familiar bubbling excitement in my stomach at the thought of taking part in another Pokémon Contest.

I laid my head back onto my arms and let my grey eyes scan the sky. My first ever Sinnoh contest was in a week, in Jubilife City. I figured that I'd train for a few days in Sandgem before hiking over to Jubilife and registering. So far, training was going well. I laid there, silent for a few moments taking in the relaxing atmosphere... while it lasted. Because it was then that I heard approaching footsteps, and before I had time to pull myself into a position so that I could see who it was, I was struck from the side by a pair of feet.

I let out a muffled cry of pain as a figure collapsed down on top of me, who let out an equal pained squeal, but the voice sounded a lot more feminine than mine. And that was something. As I began to shove the thin figure off me, it leaped up. I pulled myself to my elbows with a moan as my side ached. "Sebastian Morris-Clarke, what the hell are you doing just lying down in the middle of my way!" came a strangely familiar voice. What was more familiar about it was the fact that it was angry... as always.

I quickly straightened myself as I stood, with a glare at the girl standing before me. She was just a little shorter than me, coming in at around 5' 6", with a thin frame. Her vibrant red locks, curly as usual, were 

held up in a ponytail today, but they still fell to just above her shoulders, and as usual she was scowling back so that her crimson eyes sparkled. She wore her usual attire of a long black tank top which fell just below her belt, slung around her waist, a navy skirt and a pair of black leggings and navy boots. She also had a short sleeved jacket tied around her waist, which matched her hair shade almost perfectly. "Always a pleasure, Abigail..." I muttered while I brushed dirt off the side of my tight black shirt.

As expected she rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips with a raised eyebrow. I knew very well what that look meant, but just to make sure, she verbally explained it. "Sarcasm is no way to sweet talk me Sebastian" she said flatly. I smiled to myself before replying.

"As highly as you think of yourself Abigail, that's not my intention. Speaking of intentions, was your's to flatten me, or where you attempting to jump over me and failed miserably?" I replied. I saw her eyebrows meet for a frown as I bent down to pick up my one shoulder orange messenger bag. It contained a lot considering its size and had served me well in the past few months since I had started out in Sinnoh. "I was actually trying to find a good spot to train, but you flummoxing about caused me to trip up I'll have you know! Perhaps if you were training to then maybe you'd actually get somewhere in the Jubilife Contest!" she hissed, a smile crossing her own lips at her spite.

I took a few seconds to reply, reliving my first Contest experience a few months back, in Azula Town. True, I hadn't done great and didn't make it past the Appeal round, but everyone makes mistakes. Everyone. At Abigail's remark, Vince had frowned and let out a displeased groan before un attatching himself from the rock and waddling over to me. Waddling wasn't quite the word... I didn't really know what to call it, sliding along on eight tentacles. Waddling or sliding... whatever. "We've been training all morning actually, an awful lot. We'll see if I 'get somewhere' in a week won't we?" I asked with a hint of coldness.

"A week seems like a long time, doesn't it?" before I had time to reply, she steamrolled on as normal. "So how about we have a battle now? For training sakes" Abigail had already whipped out a Pokeball from her one shouldered backpack. I glanced sideways at Vince and thought. Should I really battle her now, and lose my element of surprise? But knowing her line-up would be good to... "You'll have to wait, me and Vince have things to do" I said simply, scooping up my white coat, fur lined around the sleeves and neckline - not that it was needed in this heat.

She crossed her arms with an unimpressed look and opened her mouth to retort but I had already turned my back on her and begun to stride across the short space between me and the entrance to the red roofed haven. I heard her voice as I neared the door but it was inaudible and likely some cheap insult to try and convince me to battle. Abigail was going to have to wait. I guess rivals usually always accepted each other's challenges because they were usually always riled up to fight, but me and Abigail were no ordinary rivals. We had been best friends since three years old, the two richest children to attend school, and to live in Azula Town back in Johto. However, that friendship had ended once we both turned ten and she received her first Pokémon. Being rich had inflated her head, something which, thankfully, had not happened to me. She was now the stuck up, self obsessed and narrow minded Abigail I had just un fourtantly encountered back there. No doubt she had some sort of new Pokémon that her parents had persuaded someone to sell... persuaded with a bag full of gold most probably.

Luckily I had never given my parents the chance to do that. But time wasted thinking on them wasn't time worth it. I was drawn out from unwanted thoughts as a little moan from Vince told me we had entered the Pokémon Centre. And sure enough, I looked around to find myself in the familiar lobby of a Pokémon Centre, plenty of trainer's and such lounging and eating with their own Pokémon or friends in the plenty of booths dotted around. I crossed the lobby with un interest, having read all the notice board's posters that morning, and began to search for my room down the hall. Vince, using one of his tentacles, fished the key off of my belt and dangled it in front of a door that looked exactly the same as any other. He had a better memory than me, that was for sure. "Thanks, I sometimes wonder what I'd do without you" I said with a chuckle, closing the door behind him. He immediately bee-lined for my bed and was already nestling up in the corner against the wall as I hung my bag and coat up.

I turned to the wall length mirror that hung on the wall, observing myself fully. My messy white hair, spiking up at one side, with its dyed ice blue tips looked as vibrant as ever, while in comparison my grey eyes were still dull. I was wearing my usual black tight long sleeved top and fingerless gloves with a pair of black shorts that fell just above my knee. A belt with various pouches was snugly fit around my waist containing Pokeballs, berries and random items, and on my feet I was wearing my usual pair of sturdy boots, also fur-tipped. Once again, there wasn't much need for fur-tipped clothes at the moment, but Sinnoh's winters were known to be extremely harsh, so I decided to come prepared. "Hmm... maybe I should try a cosmic blue..." I muttered, running my hands through my ice blue tips. It was risky to have the same hair colour for too often, especially nowadays with half of Johto... nope, that wasn't worth time thinking about. But I really did need to change my hair colour, just to be safe.

That would have to wait however, until I actually had some cash to buy some hair dye. It was shameful that I was now barely scraping money to feed Vince, let alone myself, thankfully most of the food at Pokémon Centres was free. What was I going to do? I had to find money somehow, or else I'd never make it to Jubilife... but I had to compete in that Contest, and beat Abigail. There wasn't really any question about it; it was something I had to do. The only thing I could think of was to try and find some odd jobs of a sort since I didn't have proper qualifications... the down side of running away from home at eleven years old I suppose. I glanced over at Vince, who was now beginning to fall asleep. And a sudden, obvious idea struck me. I would simply battle for money! I laughed out loud to myself for being so stupid, it was what most trainers did, an obvious option.

"Sorry buddy, but this is no time to sleep. We're off to earn some money" I called over my shoulder as I quickly grabbed my bag and jacket again. I smiled to myself as I heard Vince release a loud sigh, he was pretty much lazy unless we were battling or training, or in a contest. But he'd be thankful when he was wolfing down food. Soon enough we were back in the lobby of the Pokémon Centre, and I was casting my grey eyes over the seated trainers, scanning for an opponent. However, I didn't have to wait long. I heard a voice from behind me.

"Excuse me, you're a trainer right?" I turned around to face the speaker and felt my jaw drop. It wasn't someone I knew this time, but someone who was well... gorgeous! The boy was a little bit taller than me with deep hazel eyes, pools of... no, that's too cheesy. But he really was drop dead, with tanned skin and ruffled hair to match his eyes; he even had a little goatee. "Err... hello?" he said, frowning. I was standing there, staring at him, and I hadn't even replied. I quickly shook myself back to reality and forced myself to laugh.

"Trainer? Well Co-ordinator... but if you're looking to battle then me and Vince are up for it. Right?" Vince simply grunted, clearly unenthusiastic. I rolled my eyes as the boy laughed. "I've never had a battle with a Co-ordinator... sounds fun, I'll see just how nancy pancy you lot are" he said with a smirk. I felt my brow crease. Nancy pancy? Ugh, obviously the boy was one of those pig headed trainers that thought contests were all 'dancing around a stage' as he heard someone put it before. None the less, I followed him as he strode back out onto the grass. Luckily Abigail had vacated the premises, I didn't need her pissing me off as well as this boy.

"So hows about a one on one?" He asked as he positioned himself a few feet away from me, taking a Pokeball in his hand. I simply nodded to him, and gave him a flat stare as Vince slid in front of me. He hesitated before throwing his Pokeball, maybe he realised I wasn't best impressed. Hopefully anyways.

"Solrock, battle time" he called. A Solrock? I'd seen one before on telly, and sure enough a familiar round orange floating rock appeared, with several longer tanned produtions spiking out from its body, giving the impression it was a carved sun. I glanced up at him... I didn't even know what he was called.

"Do you have a name?" I asked rather shortly. He frowned a bit before replying, he had obviously caught on by now. "Yeah... I'm Ashley.." he replied, slowly. "Sebastian." I said simply.

Without waiting for his response, I turned my attention to Vince. "Use Bubblebeam to start things off" I said coolly, still a little pissed off with his insult. I wanted to thrash him now, just to prove how 'nancy pancy' I was. The cheek of him...

Vince complied and spewed a stream of bubbles from his snout, which began to close the distance with surprising speed. It seemed Ashley wasn't as pig headed as I thought, his next moves were actually pretty smart. "Solrock, use Flash" he commanded quickly. A second later Solrock's whole body emitted an extremely bright flash, which had me blinking for seconds after just to regain my sight. Once I was finally able to see again I observed that it had the same affect on Vince, who had halted his Bubblebeam attack and was now blinking furiously to gain his main sense back.

"Now, Will-O-Wisp" he called next. I had to admit, he looked even more dashing when he was battling, all fired up and excited. But he was still a little shit. Even though he was bigger than me... that didn't matter. Solrock's eyes came to life, glowing red in the rectangle sockets, and a blue-white flame burst into life in front of it. Then, with the motion of leaning its body forward, the flame zigzagged the distance between it and Vince. I was going to call to try and avoid it, but Vince could barely see.

The flame struck him, appearing to do no damage at first. But I knew that Will-O-Wisp inflicted an immediate burn, which would hinder Vince throughout the battle. Smart, I had to admit. Finally, Vince seemed to regain himself, a large burn mark standing out clearly on the side of his large head. "Vince, go straight in with a Bubblebeam again" I called.

This time the bubbles hit home, causing a hefty amount of damage. Thanks to Solrock's rock subtype, it was a lot more damaging. The attack had forced it to drop its levitation trick temporarily, and as it floated back up I called my next order. "Psybeam it" For the second time that day, multicoloured waves of Psychic energy escaped Vince's snout, radiating towards Solrock.

"Two can play that game. Use your Psybeam Solrock" Ashley said cockily. I narrowed my eyes. First he insults me, and then he gets cocky in a battle? Good looks seemed to be his only good point; what a twat. Solrock's eyes glowed a vibrant purple this time, and its own waves of strange energy expanded to meet Vince's. The two attacks beat against each for a while before finally cancelling each other out. Ashley smirked. I scoffed.

"Now, Rock Throw!" At once Solrock's eyes changed colour yet again, becoming a shimmering blue. It was then that I felt a rumbling sensation below my feet. Frowning in confusion I looked to the middle of the space we were using and gasped as cracks appeared, followed by large rocks being ripped upwards to levitate by what I assumed was Solrock's psychic powers. The rocks stayed still only momentarily before they were flung forwards towards Vince.

"Use Water gun to deflect those rocks" I called to Vince, beginning to feel a bit tense as the battle heated up. Vince began to huff out his... chest? or torso? Either way, it huffed it up and then forcefully sprayed a thick jet of water at the rocks. A few of them simply collapsed at being hit by the attack but one of them soared back towards Solrock, slamming into it. "Now, while its stunned, use Bullet Seed" Ashley was looking pretty annoyed that Solrock was still regaining itself after its encounter with the rock, and that seeds were now whistling into his Pokémon.

Another super effective hit to Solrock meant that by now it was looking tired. Easy, I thought. "Bubblebeam again!" "Solrock, Confusion". We both called out attacks at the same time, almost in union; ugh, now he was annoying me. Trying to upstage me or something.

At the same time that Vince sprayed another flow of bubbles, Solrock's body was outlines by a shimmering purple-pink aura... it was quite nice to look at actually. Nice until the distortion, sort of like a big floating round shaped heat haze, materialised and streaked towards Vince. The Bubblebeam attack popped on instant contact with the strange psychic force, which then slammed straight into Vince who was sent reeling backwards. I bit my lip. This Ashley boy was becoming a trouble. Vince slowly arose to his normal posture, now looking weakened. The burn must have been taking its toll by now, even if he 

was resistant to fire type attacks, it was a constant pain; literally. "Harden yourself and use Tackle" Ashley called.

At once, Solrock's body took on a sheen as it began to streak forwards, lowering its body at an angle slightly. I couldn't help but smirk. Ashley was looking at me, surprised maybe by my lack of a reaction... until the last second. "Vince, Constrict!" Ashley's eyes widened as realisation hit him. A devious look crossed Vince's face as his tentacles leapt into action, lashing out and tightly gripping themselves around Solrock's 'flare' like produtions. The tackle attack came to a halt and Solrock began to squirm in Vince's grasp, to no avail. "Now, a point black Bubblebeam, if you would Vince" I said with a smirk over to Ashley. He and I both knew this battle was over.

Solrock's eyes glowed the brightest red yet as it realised what was about to happen. Vince's snout, just bare inches away, released a ongoing stream of the strongest Bubblebeam yet, with each every bubble striking head on. Within a matter of moments, Solrock had stopped squirming and Vince loosened his hold. Solrock collapsed to the floor and didn't move. At the shocked and slightly impressed look on Ashley's face I couldn't help but smirk widely.

"That was some good battling there Sebastian" he said with a smile as he neared me.. Was that still a stupid smirk? I felt my fists clench. I had just whopped his ass, well, _we _had just thrashed him and he still insisted to be smirk. I considered actually hitting him; I might be gay but that didn't mean I couldn't hit hard. He frowned at the look on my face, which I assumed was painted with anger. "Very smart as well" he added slowly.

"Not so nancy pancy now huh?" I barked, louder than intended, drawing a confused look from not only Ashley but Vince to. "Is... is there something wrong?" he asked. I had the biggest urge to cross my arms and explode... others might have thought I was over reacting, but in the short few months I'd been a Coordinator I'd had so many snide comments about it, little hints when I was battling. It had pissed me off, and now it was all building up; the fact that we liked to work in sync with our Pokémon and entertain a crowd made us no different from trainers. Instead though, I simply scoffed and motioned to Vince as I turned to walk away.

"That's rude you know!" I heard him call after me, sounding rather offended. I halted my steps suddenly and felt my fingers close into a fist, my mouth working furiously but no sound came out. He wasn't worth my time. I simply stuck my nose into the air and stalked, once again, back into the Pokémon Centre.

For such a good looking boy, he was a jerk. Shame really.

**A / N Well, apart from being stupidly short I'm happy with this chapter. I think too much happened for one part of the story though... meh, I have to get started somehow. Obviously the story is from Sebastian's point of view, and I've left a lot of questions un-answered on purpose, I hope you like it and please do try and review; opinions and c & c are loved! . Ashley & Sebastian maybe? Well... Ashley will most definatly be appearing again and Abigail. Tune in next time folks ;**


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